Make a big impact with these container garden ideas. Fill your container with pollinator-friendly plants that add pizzazz to your patio.
5 Container Garden Ideas to Attract Hummingbirds
Updated on Apr. 18, 2024
From window boxes to hanging baskets, container gardening is well known as a versatile way to add a bit of drama and color to any space—but it can be functional, too! Pack even more punch in your compact combinations by cultivating a nourishing hummingbird buffet with these tried-and-true container garden ideas.
Photos and container planting plans from Proven Winners
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How to Choose a Container
To anchor everything, you need the right container. You’ll certainly have plenty to choose from. Just go to the garden center, and chances are you’ll find rows and rows of them in every size, shape and color imaginable. Before you even start looking at plants, find a container that inspires you. A short, stocky container would be just the thing for a small conifer. A bold turquoise container would be the perfect backdrop for various shades of pink. A big, tall container is a nice option for trailing plants.
A good pot or other planter can be expensive, but go ahead and splurge a little if you find one you really like. Chances are you’ll have it for years. Oh, and remember that containers are like shoes—they’re better when you buy them in pairs!
One more thing to consider: make sure your container has drainage holes so that your soil doesn’t become waterlogged, which could lead to root rot.
Get more tips for watering container gardens.
Design Containers Like a Pro
One common way to create a visually appealing container is by using the “thriller, filler, spiller” technique.
- Thrillers add the wow factor with their height. Plant according to how the pot will be viewed. If it will be viewed from all sides, place it in the middle. Or if viewed from the front only, place it in the back.
- Fillers create dense volume by packing the pot with their mounded or rounded natures. These should be placed around or in front of the thriller.
- Spillers bring dramatic depth and texture as they overflow out of the pot. These are trailing plants that should be planted near the edge of the planter.
Learn how to grow a container garden for herbs.
Add Drama With Tall Plants
One of the easiest ways to make an impact with a container is tall plants. You can find some colorful annuals, but don’t overlook perennials. Just because you’re growing in a container doesn’t mean you have to dump the plants out each year. Offer the perennials good protection in a weatherproof pot over the winter, and you’ll have a jump on next year.
Include Trailing Plants
Trailing plants are a must-have for hanging baskets, but they’re a showstopper for other container garden ideas, too. Garden centers often have a whole section of trailing plants. Use blooms like trailing begonias, petunias and geraniums, or try foliage plants like sweet potato vine and licorice vine. You’ll probably want to stick to a single type of trailing plant per container, but it can be fun to mix in a couple of varieties within a single family.
Check out the best dwarf flowering shrubs for containers.
Choose Bold Colors
You don’t necessarily want to pair bright red flowers with a bright red container. But with a little bit of planning, you can use color to your advantage. It starts with your pot of choice. How colorful is it? If you love bright orange, yellow or blue pots, what’ll work well as accents?
Another option is to choose a more subdued, neutral pot that maybe has an interesting shape or lines. Then use plants to make an impact. One advantage to this is that you can change the plants from one year to the next. If you have a brown or terra-cotta pot, you could have a red, white and blue theme one year and a yellow theme the next.
Don’t Forget About Presentation
So you have your height and your trailing plants. You’ve chosen an attractive container. And you’ve used color to your advantage. Now you just need to make sure that everything works together.
Where will your container live? What do you have planted around it? If it’s in a solitary location, is it big enough to fill up the space? The planning and placement of your container are the deciding factors in its success. Give it an outstanding display, and all your hard work will be worthwhile.
Now that you know the basics, use these container garden ideas from Proven Winners as inspiration.
Container Garden Ideas to Attract Hummingbirds
Dancing With the Moon
- Exposure: Part sun to sun
- Seasons: Spring, summer, fall
- Container size: 12 inches
- Rockin’ Deep Purple
Salvia hybrid
Thriller, Quantity: 1 - Diamond Frost
Euphorbia hybrid
Filler, Quantity: 1 - Supertunia Hoopla Vivid Orchid
Petunia hybrid
Spiller, Quantity: 1
Bouffant
- Exposure: Part sun to sun
- Seasons: Spring, summer, fall
- Container size: 14 inches
- Angelface Blue Summer Snapdragon
Angelonia hybrid
Thriller, Quantity: 1 - Superbells Blackcurrant Punch
Calibrachoa hybrid
Filler, Quantity: 1 - Supertunia Raspberry Rush
Petunia hybrid
Spiller, Quantity: 1
Over the Falls
- Exposure: Part sun to sun
- Seasons: Spring, summer, fall
- Container size: 12 inches
- Laguna Compact Blue with Eye
Lobelia erinus
Filler, Quantity: 2 - Superbells Doublette Love Swept
- Double Calibrachoa Calibrachoa hybrid
Filler, Quantity: 2 - Silver Falls
Dichondra argentea
Spiller, Quantity: 1
Hot for Me
- Exposure: Part sun to sun
- Seasons: Spring, summer, fall
- Container size: 14 inches
- Angelface Perfectly Pink Summer Snapdragon
Angelonia hybrid
Quantity: 1 - Graceful Grasses Prince Tut Dwarf Egyptian Papyrus
Cyperus papyrus
Thriller, Quantity: 1 - Diamond Snow
Euphorbia hybrid
Thriller, Quantity: 1 - Graceful Grasses Fiber Optic Grass
Isolepsis (Scirpus) cernua
Filler, Quantity: 1 - Supertunia Vista Jazzberry
Petunia hybrid
Filler, Quantity: 1
Parisian Nights
- Exposure: Sun
- Season: Summer
- Container size: 36 inches
- Angelface Blue Summer Snapdragon
Angelonia hybrid
Thriller, Quantity: 3 - Supertunia Bordeaux
Petunia hybrid
Spiller, Quantity: 3 - Sweet Caroline Light Green Sweet Potato Vine
Ipomoea batatas
Spiller, Quantity: 2
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